


Run to You

by somebodysmuse



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Ford and Mabel bonding, I wrote this kind of out of anger, Pines Family Fluff, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 10:55:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5741008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somebodysmuse/pseuds/somebodysmuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a mildly earth-shattering turn of events, Mabel and Ford are cast into a dangerous sub-dimension where they must fight to understand each other and their brave new world. Back at home, Dipper and Stan are bent on getting their siblings back, even if it means breaking down the gates of Heaven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Mabel sighed. Her heart felt like it was going to shatter. Those words kept bouncing around in her head as she folded sweaters and placed them in her suitcase.

"What about Mabel? We've never really been apart before."

"And isn't it suffocating?"

Ford thought that she was suffocating. Ford thought that Mabel was holding Dipper back. And obviously, Dipper thought that, too. Even after the apocalypse, after they had helped save the world together, Ford still thought that she was just a liability to her brilliant brother, to his brilliant great-nephew.

And, as of that morning, Dipper was Ford's apprentice, as well. In two days, Mabel would be riding back home to California alone.

And starting the eighth grade alone.

And celebrating Halloween alone.

And celebrating Thanskgiving alone.

Of course, Dipper had promised that they'd still be close; they would talk online, they would Skype every night, he'd text her whenever he got the chance. But Mabel, for once in her life, had trouble believing him. Ford's work was completely time-consuming and she could already feel her brother slipping away.

Mabel felt like crying. Maybe that's all she would ever be, she would be the one who cried. The one who got her heart broken. The one who believed and believed and was let down.

"Mabel,"

Mabel wiped her eyes on her sleeve and turned around.

"Oh. Hey, Grunkle Stan."

"Can I come in? You looked a little upset this morning when...you know."

Mabel nodded. Stan sat on the edge of her bed, beside her suitcase. Stanley Pines was a man of quite a few skills, but, as he had discovered a long time ago, he was almost incapable of reading people's emotions. He used to be able to read Ford, of course, but a few decades in that Portal had taken that skill from both of them. He could, however, read his great niece like a book. He knew that she was upset about Dipper taking Ford's apprenticeship.

"Yeah, I guess." Mabel sighed. "I mean, I thought we were going to go home together and, you know, face the future. I mean, we saved the world together and he still wants to be away from me."

"Sweetie," Stan said seriously. "Your brother doesn't want to be away from you. He loves you."

"Alright, so Dipper doesn't want to be away from me as much as Ford wants me to be away from him."

This made Stan stop completely.

"Why would Ford want you to be apart?" He asked.

"Because he thinks I'm suffocating." Mabel said thickly, wiping her eyes again.

"Why would- how could-"

"I heard him."

There was silence in the attic.

"Mabel, honey," Stan finally said. "Look at me."

Mabel tore her tear-filled eyes from the floor.

"Look, my brother can be...he can be a little insensitive sometimes, I get that-"

"He thinks I'm holding Dipper back!" Mabel cried, finally breaking. "And he d-doesn't want me messing things up anymore..."

Stan abandoned his words and pulled Mabel into his chest, holding her tightly.

"I'm sorry, honey." He murmured.

"It's not your fault." Mabel hiccuped. "It's-"

"Mabel!"

Mabel and Stan shared a glance. Dipper and Ford had returned from mission #1237493 or whatever number it was and were downstairs, probably holding the lifeless body of some alien.

And, knowing Dipper, there was probably some heroic story to accompany it.

"Do you want to go down? I can tell them you're busy."

"No." Mabel said, wiping her face on her sleeve. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Mabel answered with a brave attempt at a smile.

Surely enough, a dissheveled Dipper and Ford were in the living room, sporting several cuts and bruises and triumphant grins.

"Do you have any idea how protective mutant bees are when it comes to portals to sub-dimensions?" Dipper asked as soon as he saw Mabel.

"Sub-dimensions?" Stan asked. "And I thought portals were unstable?" He added, looking pointedly at Ford.

"As it turns out, some of Bill's friends left a bit of a trail in Gravity Falls, mostly devices like the one we just saved."

Ford extracted a strange-looking device from his pocket. It looked almost like a crystal that was glowing a soft yellow.

"This is a perfectly stable portal to a sub-dimension."

"Okay, but sub-dimension?" Stan asked again. "What's the difference?"

"It's just what it sounds like." Dipper started to explain. "They're normally controlled by higher powers in bigger dimensions, they're used as playthings for powerful beings, they're entertainment. They're a lot easier to escape, though, but in a lot of ways, more dangerous. Right?" He asked, looking up at Ford.

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Ford said, nodding approvingly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something flash in Mabel's eyes. Now that he looked, Mabel didn't look like herself. She looked like she'd been crying.

"You would have been proud of your brother." He said to her. "He was brillaint."

"Yeah, that's my brother. Brilliant." Mabel said without smiling.

"Are you alright?" Dipper asked bluntly.

"Yeah, I'm great." Mabel answered, glancing over at Ford, who was fiddling with the sub-dimension device, which was now glowing orange. "You know, I'm going to go finish packing."

"But you haven't even heard the story, yet." Dipper said, sounding a little hurt.

"You can...text it to me later. Don't let me hold you back."

"Hold me back?"

Stan glared at Ford. 

"Mabel," Ford said hesitantly as she started to leave the room. "Where would you get an idea like-"

"Because you think I hold Dipper back!" Mabel finally said, whirling around to face her great-uncle. Stan's heart stopped, Dipper looked at the ground, ashamed.

"Mabel, you don't understand, it wasn't like that," Ford started.

"You said that I stifled him!" Tears were now pooling in Mabel's wide eyes. "You really can't stand me, can you? Even now, you're too busy messing with that stupid sciencey-magic thingy to even look at-"

"It's unstable, it shouldn't be doing this!" Ford said, regarding the device in his hand with nothing short of terror.

"Fine." Mabel snapped. "Take my brother away from me, he can be a prodigy without me messing up his life."

That finally made Ford stop. He reached forward and grabbed his niece's shoulder.

"Mabel, if you'd just let me explain-"

"Great-uncle Ford-" Dipper said, watching the device glow a sickeningly vibrant purple. 

"It's just an opportunity to keep investigating the town-"

"You really shouldn't be holding on to that thing-" Dipper tried to say again.

"Really, Ford, it doesn't look-"

"Are you trying to turn Dipper and I into you and Grunkle Stan?" Mabel finally asked. She knew that she had struck an all-too-raw chord. The device went from purple to scarlet.

"Ford!" Stan cried at the same time Dipper screamed his sister's name.

There was a flash of light. Both Mabel and Ford felt themselves being sucked through an impossibly tight tube, struck with an unbearable pain, and then they hit the ground in a different world.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wha...what happened?" Mabel asked, after finally catching her breath.

"I think we may be in a different dimension." Ford breathed. "Try to stay quiet. We don't know if there's anyone else here."

Mabel, though thousands of terrified questions danced on her tongue, willed herself to stay quiet.

Their surroundings, from what she could gather, weren't too different from those of her dimension. She and Ford appeared to be lying on a street. A few buildings lined the sidewalk, and creatures who looked close enough to humans milled around. No one paid them any mind.

"Are you sure we switched dimensions? Everything looks pretty normal." Mabel said.

"That's what I thought, but something isn't-"

That's when everything changed. The sky turned a brilliant, glowing orange. The streets ripped apart beneath them. Everything started to, for lack of a better term, melt. Ford grabbed Mabel's hand and pulled her away. 

"What's going on?" She cried.

"I don't know..." Ford whispered. What WAS going on?

Then everything stopped. Almost as suddenly as it had been destroyed, the world began to repair itself. But it looked different. The stones paving the streets were much less even, and the architecture resembled the Renaissance greatly.

"There they are!"

The two Pines turned around. A crowd was behind them. They all carried torches that illuminated the looks of fury on their faces.

"You really thought you could hide from us, couldn't you?" One of them asked. He was holding a sketch in his hand. "Five thousand crowns to anyone that can bring you two to the king alive...but after everything you've done, I'd give you to him for nothing."

"What the..." Mabel wavered.

"Mabel, get behind me." Ford commanded. As his niece obeyed, he tried to sort out his thoughts. It was like they had travelled back in time, but that didn't make sense...and when had he changed his clothes? Instead of the sweater (the red one that Stanely had leant to him,) he was wearing a thick and cloak, the common-folk's, or what the average costumer thought was, attire of the time period. He glanced back at Mabel. Her sweater had also been replaced by-

"Ford! Look out!"

Ford immediately ducked; an arrow, fired from one of the mob members' bow, flew over his head. Deciding that now was not the time to evaluate the situation, Ford snatched Mabel's hand and bolted away.

\- - - 

Dipper and Stan stared at the place where their sibling had vanished.

Then all at once, the realizations set in.

"They're...they're in one of those sub-dimensions?" Stan asked. Dipper nodded.

"That's not...oh, no, oh no oh no..." Dipper breathed. "Mabel's in another dimension and some weird tyrant is torturing her for entertainment-"

"Hey," Stan said, grabbing his nephew's shoulders. "Take a deep breath, come on, in, out...Mabel's in there with Ford, and we both know that he wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"B-but they were arguing-"

"Just because Mabel was upset doesn't mean Ford would abandon her in some twisted half-dimension." Stan said firmly. "You said that sub-dimensions were easier to get out of, right?"

Dipper nodded his head.

"Is there something we can do?" 

Dipper nodded again and reached for Journal #3.

"I have all of Ford's research here."

Stan nodded his head. "Then we'd better get to work."

\- - -

Ford and Mabel managed to get through the gate just before it closed. That was the luckiest thing that had happened that day. They were out of the village, there was a wall between the two of them and a mob of still-angry villagers.

"And stay out, you thieving-" a string of filthy names erupted from the crowd.

"What's going on?" Mabel finally asked, her eyes wide.

"I don't know." Ford sighed, kneeling with his head in his hands.

"Are we in a sub-dimension?" Mabel asked, sitting in the ground beside her great-uncle, who nodded.

"There's a way out, I know, but the instructions are in my third journal, and Dipper has it that back at home." Ford said, leaning against the wall. The sun was setting and his eyelids felt heavy. How long had they been chased, and what had they done? He sighed again and looked over at his niece.

"Are you alright?" He said, realizing that he definitely should have asked her that sooner. "None of them hurt you, did they?"

Mabel shook her head. "I'm okay. Kinda tired."

Ford nodded, he was tired, as well. The sun was almost beneath the horizon.

"I guess we'll figure this out in the morning." Ford decided. He hated leaving questions unanswered, but the sheer vastness of their problem was too overwhelming to face just then. He needed to rest. He would deal with this tomorrow.

That's when he noticed that Mabel was shivering. It was definitely colder than it had been that afternoon, and without the sun's warmth...

"Come here, Mabel." Ford said. She looked at him hesitantly, but the chill outside eventually won over. She moved closer to her great-uncle and let him wrap her in his cloak.

"Dipper has the instructions to get us back?" Mabel murmured, leaning against him.

"He does." Ford said.

"So, we'll be okay." She said, sounding relieved.

"Go to sleep." Ford said gently. If only he could view the situation as his niece did. 

With a sigh, Ford leaned against the wall and fell asleep.

The sun was just starting to rise when someone woke the two up. Ford searched the folds of his cloak, hoping against hope that there was something to help him defend himself and his niece-

"There's no need for that. All we want to give you is answers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, friends and neighbors. Sorry that this chapter is shorter than the first, but I have some stuff going in right now and I REALLY WANTED TO POST SOMETHING NEW. Anyway, thank you for the kudos and comments. Y'all make my day.


	3. Chapter 3

"There're only a few ways to get out of sub-dimensions." Dipper read from Ford's journal. "If we get the second half of the portal-"

"The second half?" Stan asked, reading over his nephew's shoulder.

"Each sub-dimension portal is composed of two halves of a crystal. You need with the person being transported and the other at your...base, I guess."

"So, where's the other half of ours?"

"Ford has it in the lab," Dipper said, practically running to the basement door. "If we activate it, then they'll be able to come back!"

"Then we should probably do that," Stan said.

What neither of them were expecting, however, was the other half of the crystal to simply sit there in Dipper's hand, glowing a brilliant electric blue, and doing absolutely nothing.

"What? This is supposed to work, this is like, the only way to-"

"Calm down, kiddo." Stan said, to calm both himself and his nephew as he scanned the journals for an answer. "Alright, it says that when it's glowing blue... the portal is incomplete."

"But Ford has the other piece!" Dipper cried, panicked. "Oh, man, what if something happened and they lost the other piece?"

Stan tried to will himself into some kind of reassurance, but he was too lost himself. There was one thought in his mind, hammering against his skull.

Not again.

\- - -

"How do I know we can trust you?" Ford asked.

"You don't have to." A clearly feminine voice answered. "Really, you don't have to come with us. But it's late, you're new here, it's cold outside, and you have a child with you."

Ford stole a moment to look back at Mabel, who was behind him. She did look like she could use some actual shelter. But still, how could he trust a complete stranger in a completely strange dimension? 

"All we want to give you is a warm place to stay and a few explanations." Another voice, belonging to a male, said. "You can leave after ten minutes if you want."

"Grunkle Ford?" Mabel finally said, looking up at him. Ford's brain and heart had a quick debate. After a few seconds, he decided to accept the offer. If he needed to fight his way out, he could. And if he didn't, then Mabel got a bed for the night.

Ford kept his guard up as the two figures lead himself and his niece inside. He wasn't entirely sure what "inside" was, even. Was it a room? Was it a shack? Was it a bunker? He and Mabel were inside before he could decide.

If the outside was unfamiliar, the inside was anything but. Several armchairs and sofas, all in the process of falling apart, surrounded an illuminated fireplace. Bookshelves filled with books, blankets, and several other miscellaneous items lined the walls. The inside was unmistakably normal. No sub-dimension weirdness.

Yet. Ford reminded himself. No weirdness yet. He had to keep his guard up.

"I'll take your jacket, if you want." Someone said, bringing Ford out of his thoughts. He turned around and faced the voice, which belonged to a young woman who couldn't have been older than twenty. Everything she was wearing, her cardigan, camisole, and jeans, looked like they had been washed and worn countless times.

Ford looked down, and, strangely enough, his sweater and coat were back, replacing the cloak that, in all honesty, he didn't miss.

"That won't be necessary." He finally said. She rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to be like this the whole time?" She asked. "Because we don't have to help you. Alex is the one who wants to help all these-"

"Jess," the man, Alex, reprimanded. "Come on. Let's just sit down and explain."

The four sat in armchairs around the fire. There was silence as they waited for someone to tell their story.

"You're probably wondering about...all of this." Alex finally said. Ford and Mabel both nodded. "You're in a sub-dimension-"

"We know about those." Ford said. Jess rolled her eyes. Alex nodded his head and continued.

"Then you know that the environment can be manipulated by the dimension's higher power. Ours likes to manipulate us by changing almost daily. This, for some reason, is the only place that he or she can't manipulate. This is the only refuge."

This place, this tiny collection of rooms, was the only refuge in the entire dimension. This was the only place where people were safe.

"We try, as best as we can, to bring people here." Alex went on. "Because...well, no one really wants to be here, as you know. People stumble upon these portals and activate them on accident. And then sometimes...more often than sometimes, we don't bring people in soon enough and they..."

Alex took a deep breath.

"This dimension is...the changing situations tend to get to people. That's what it's designed to do. People who we don't find get sucked in and they lose themselves. They end up as a part of the dimension. They change with the environment and turn on newcomers. They end up as the antagonists in any given situation, and these...these citizens, if you will, chase them down until they submit. This place is the only escape."

"How many people are here now?" Ford asked.

"About twelve." Alex said almost sheepishly. "The dimension is huge and not everyone materializes here, so sometimes we don't even get a chance to bring people in and sometimes they're too far gone when we do and..."

His words trailed off.

"But what about you?" Jess asked before the pause got too long. "You don't really seem like you want to be here."

Ford glanced down at Mabel, who was now asleep in her chair. With a sigh, he decided, for the time being, to trust Alex and Jess.

"We should probably start with introductions," he said. "My name is Stanford Pines and this," he gestured towards his sleeping niece, "is Mabel, my great-niece. I've been investigating this town of anomalies in Oregon since I was in my twenties. Abnormalities manifest themselves there, to the point that they're almost normalities..."

Ford told their story, about how he went to find the second half of the dimension's portal to stabilize it and how it ended up activated.

"And now we're here." He finished. Alex sighed.

"How old is Mabel?" Jess asked.

"She just turned thirteen." He answered.

"Oh, God, she's just a kid." She said, like she had just realized the very obvious fact. "Is she...how is she holding up through all this?"

"We only just got here. We haven't had a chance to discuss." Ford answered. "But she's brave and unflinchingly optimistic. She'll be as alright as a person can be in a situation like this." Ford got the feeling that he was convincing himself more than anyone else, which, of course, he was.

"And my brother and nephew, Mabel's brother, have the other half of the portal. It's in my laboratory." Ford looked at his half of the crystal which was now glowing pink, a sign that it was in use. "It's only a matter of time before they activate theirs."

"That won't help." Jess said bluntly. 

"And why is that?" 

"This portal isn't divided in two. It's in thirds." Alex said bracingly. "You have one, your brother had one, and the other is in the hands of our ruler, or overlord."

Ford's heart collapsed.

"How do we get that third piece?" He asked, refusing to give up hope. He couldn't, he had to get Mabel and himself home.

"It's not just about getting that piece. You can also leave if They give you leave to leave. They can do that."

"Who are They?"

"They're the one with the third piece."

"So, to get back, we need to steal the last third or-"

"Yeah, you're going to get back. That's funny." Jess said dryly. "This dimension would chew you up and spit you out."

Ford felt his temper flare. "I know about separate dimensions, believe it or not, and-"

"Let's not wake Mabel," Alex reminded them. "Stanford, you and Mabel are in the only known safe place in the dimension, and getting to that piece would mean traveling to the center of the entire dimension while being hunted."

Ford looked at Mabel again. Alex and Jess both noticed and understood.

"But it's not impossible." Alex continued, trying to sound hopeful. "But I'm afraid there's not much you can do now."

Ford sighed and nodded.

"I think that's an empty room," Alex said, pointing to the door beside the fireplace. "You two can sleep there, if you'd like."

Ford nodded again. "Thank you." He said. Alex smiled, Jess barely nodded her head in acknowledgment.

He turned to Mabel again. Instead of waking her, he scooped her up and carried her into the indicated room. Surely enough, the only occupants were two ancient-looking twin beds.

After setting Mabel down and placing a tattered blanket around her shoulders, Ford let himself lie down and take a deep breath. Over the next few hours, he concentrated on nothing. Finally, his will was strong enough to actually think.

He took a moment to stare at the ceiling and remember where he was. He and his niece were trapped and in the hands of almost complete strangers. There was, to their knowledge and to his, only one way out.

God, what was he doing to do?

Ford sat up and stared out the window. There were stars in this sub-dimension's sky. That was comforting.

What wasn't comforting was the vague sounds of labored breathing. Wait, not labored breathing, shortened breaths, and, unmistakably, a sniff.

Ford turned around, where his niece was sleeping. Her back was turned to him, her shoulders shook.

"Mabel?" He asked, standing and walking to her bedside. "Are you alright?"

Mabel wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Yeah, I'm fine. Go back to sleep, please."

Ford knew that this was a dismissal, but how could he leave his niece crying in the middle of the night? Stanley would do that. He'd make sure she was alright.

After a very long moment, Ford sat beside Mabel.

"Mabel, look at me." He said. Slowly, Mabel emerged from beneath her blanket. Her eyes, her normally bright eyes, were downcast and filled with tears.

"Tell me what's wrong." He said gently. He realized what was wrong, of course. She was thousands upon thousands of miles, of universes, away from everything she knew and loved.

"It's just..." Mabel almost whimpered. "I want to go home."

Ford's heart imploded. Guilt crashed over him, guilt for bringing the portal into the house, for dragging Mabel into this, and most of all, for hurting his niece. That was what caused the argument that landed them in this mess. He had called Mabel suffocating. That was hardly kind of him.

Another sniff brought him back to his niece, who was now openly crying, her face hidden in her arms.

"C'mere, my dear." He said. With some of his help, Mabel crawled into his lap, leaned against him, and cried into his sweater. Ford wrapped his arms around her and held her close. God, what was he going to do?

"Is it true that there's no way out?" She whimpered.

"How did you know about that?" Ford asked, holding her closer. 

"I heard you."

Ah, feigning sleep. Another one of his niece's talents.

"There's a way out, I know there is." Ford told he. "There has to be. We're going to get home."

"Do you promise?" 

That made Ford stop. Mabel wanted him to assure her that they would get back home. Of all the forms of comfort to choose from, this is what she wanted. No lullabies, no stories, but a promise.

Ford nodded his head.

"I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, friends! Sorry it took me so long to update again, but here we go! Have some explanations and some angst! Hopefully next chapter will have some Stan and Dipper bonding. Wait, not hopefully. There will be. I promise. Please leave comments and thank you for all of your kind words. Have a happy Groundhog Day!


	4. Chapter 4

When Ford woke, Mabel was still leaning against him and sunlight, or some kind of light, was steaming in through the window. The memories flooded back all at once. He forced himself not to wallow in his worry. There was a task at hand.

"Mabel," he said, gently shaking his niece. "It's morning." 

Mabel's eyes opened and she sat up. "Morning." She yawned. Ford had to marvel at her expression, she was almost smiling. As she looked around the room, however, her face fell.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Just...thought I'd wake up and things would be normal." She said with a shrug.

Ford nodded his head. "I did, too. But there's no time for that now. We need to talk."

Mabel nodded.

"Mabel," he started. He should have gone through this speech in his head before waking her. Was there an eloquent way to say that her trusting nature would land her in trouble?

"Grunkle Ford?" She said after a pause, kindly mimicking his tone. Ford half-smiled and began again.

"Mabel, there are a few things you need to understand, and a few things we need to agree on." 

She nodded her head.

"I know that, so far, Alex and Jess seem...fairly trustworthy. Our situation isn't exactly desirable and having allies is. Desirable, I mean. But places like this...you can't trust anything. Or anyone."

Trust no one. Mabel's brain said, remembering the brilliant scarlet message in the journal.

"I'm going to get us out of here. But in the meantime, don't do anything rash. Don't do anything dangerous. Do you understand?"

Mabel nodded again. Her face betrayed little to no emotion, but there was obvious fear in her eyes.

"I'll stay by your side the whole time. I promise." He found himself saying.

Two promises in less than a day. Ford was determined to keep both.

oOo

Dipper shoved the journal aside in frustration.

"Nothing?" Stan asked, looking up from the sheet he'd been examining.

"Nothing." Dipper sighed. "What about you?"

"There's no history anywhere of there being a portal divided into thirds." Stan answered.

"What are we going to do? What'll we tell mom and dad?"

Stan sighed. "It was hard enough convincing them to let you stay here with Ford. I can't imagine how they'd react to...gosh, kid. I don't know."

Dipper cradled his head in his hands, resting his elbows on the desk.

"Grunkle Stan," he said. "What...what were you going to do? I mean, at the end of the summer? What was your plan, since...you know."

"Honestly, I'm not sure. But I lived for almost thirty years alone, without Ford. I'm sure I'll get used to it...permanently."

Dipper felt his head spinning. A world without his sister. A world without his sister. A world without his twin.

How could it have taken him so long to realize that being away from Mabel wasn't an option?

"Stan, I don't think I should have taken Ford's apprenticeship." He confessed.

"Alright."

"Wait, do you think I was right?"

"I didn't say that," Stan said, turning to his nephew. "It was an opportunity for you to do what you liked to do. Of course you'd take it. But every decision you make is going to have negative side effects. And really, you don't really know the difference between a decision or a mistake until years after making either."

The sun was beneath the horizon.

"You should sleep, kiddo."

Dipper nodded his head, too numb to argue. His head was too full of questions. And those questions, no matter which he chose to ask, wouldn't be answered for a very long time.

oOo

There were around twelve renegades in the Haven. Two professors, three doctors, four writers, a pianist, and Alex and Jess. Five women and seven men, all older than Mabel by fifteen years and younger than Ford by ten, all of them in varying states of hopelessness and loneliness. All of them, however, were fairly welcoming towards Ford and incredibly kind to Mabel. It was obvious that children were a rare, if not impossible, occurrence. 

"You look like my little sister," Eve, one of the renegades, said upon their meeting. "She's not so little anymore, I guess. She's probably, God, she's probably in school now." She laughed sadly, her emerald-green eyes downcast. Something about that look made Ford relax a little, maybe they really were just among twelve other weary travelers.

Everyone, Mabel noticed as the days wore on, had moments like Eve's, when they'd remember that they weren't where they belonged. Mabel's presence seemed to remind them of that rather often. She tried not to feel guilty about that. After all, she had other things to worry about, and plenty to wonder about.

For example, a pair of dark brown eyes, hidden by jet-black bangs. The only one of the twelve who hadn't said a single thing to her, but had watched and listened and almost smiled when she was telling Eve about her brother and their summer in Gravity Falls.

"Who is he?" Mabel asked Alex. Ford was asleep, his head leaning against a desk covered by one of the sub-dimensions's maps (which was hardly easy to study. Nobody knew how large or small the dimension really was or where anything really was, so each map was its own kind of baffling.) She and Alex had developed something of a routine; she'd sit with Ford (who hadn't let his niece out of his sight since their arrival) in the study. Alex would come in around mid-afternoon when Ford finally let himself rest.

"Just another sad story. His name is Edwin." Alex explained. "He was the first person here, he took Jess and me in when we first got here. It was a good thing, too, there was a dimension-quake just a few hours later. If we hadn't been inside," Alex shuddered. "We were very fortunate."

"Dimension quake?" 

"It's kind of a joke, really, it's like an earthquake, but they last longer. They only happen when They're upset or angry."

"They make dimension-quakes happen?"

"They make everything happen, but not always on purpose. The real disasters take place when They're genuinely scared or sad, or angry. It's never good when someone makes them angry. Terrible things happen. If someone makes Them upset enough, They could destroy the whole dimension."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Edwin. He had most of the answers we needed when we arrived."

"So, you and Jess came her together?"

Alex's face grew grave.

"Not exactly, no." He sighed.

"What hap-" Mabel stopped herself. "Sorry." She mumbled.

"Don't be sorry. I suppose there's nothing wrong with you knowing. You can't always be the storyteller, you know." He said, almost smiling. He took a deep breath and began.

"I grew up in a small town in Kansas. My family was my mom, my dad, and my little sister. Dad was a scientist who studied sub-dimensions, specifically the portals. Nobody was really looking to invest in his line of work, who would want to? The very concept of there being multiple dimensions where anything is possibly is terrifying. But dad kept researching, he kept trying to find proof of the existence of sub-dimensions. That was when he came across the portal to this dimension, when I was seventeen. He found two of the three pieces. That was when mom got sick."

Alex took another steadying breath.

"She didn't last too long, my mom. She was...she was gone by the time I was eighteen and my sister was sixteen. She was...she was buried with a new pendant on her necklace, a little Amber crystal. We didn't think much of it then, we didn't think much of anything but dad, then. He was in a bad place, he was always working, he hardly ate, he practically barricaded the door to his office...then one day, my sister managed to get inside at the exact same time dad activated his portal."

"You don't mean..."

Alex nodded. "My sister was trapped."

"What did...what did you do?"

"I followed her." Alex said. "I found a way to activate the portal again. I went in after her and...and I found this place before I found her."

"Did you ever find your sister?"

Alex nodded. "But...but when I did, she was...God, she was so far gone. The dimension, the people, had done too much to her. She didn't trust me or anyone. She didn't even remember who I was. I..." He laughed ruefully, sadly. "For as long as I could remember, everyone called her by this nickname that my mom had given her before she died. When I called her that...she didn't know who it was."

"I'm so sorry," Mabel said, looking at her knees. "What was...what happened to her?"

"She's still alive and we're still here."

"What was her name?"

"Jessica Catherine Montgomery. But everyone knew her as Jesca."

"Wait...Jessica..." The realization crashed on Mabel. "Jess is your sister?"

Alex nodded.

"Oh, gosh..." She sighed. "Alex, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, honey."

"Is there any way to help Jess? Any way at all?"

"I'm sure that there's some therapist or psychiatrist somewhere that could help, but we don't really have a way to get to that."

"To get to what?"

Both Alex and Mabel jumped.

"Is something wrong?" Ford asked, folding the map he had fallen asleep on.

"No, nothing's wrong." Alex said. "Just a little surprised. Sleep well?"

No, nothing's wrong.

Mabel supposed, to Alex, nothing was wrong then. But really, everything was wrong in Alex Montgomery's world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, friends! I wrote this as genuine therapy for myself after the finale. Expect a new chapter very, very soon! Thank you for reading, please leave comments!


	5. Chapter 5

She was pacing back and forth, clutching the crystal that hung around her neck. How many prices of her dimension had been tossed towards mere mortals, how many had been forgotten or lost or buried with loved ones...

Too many. Throughout all the ages, without fail, her portals disappeared. Her gateways disappeared.

There was only one left, only one in her dimension. 

The carriers of that piece were her last hope.

OoO

Even before the ground started shaking, the citizens of the refuge's lives were quickly changing. 

Specifically Alex's and his sister's.

Jess was sitting in one of the chairs, braiding Mabel's hair, under Ford's ever-watchful (and ever-paranoid) gaze. 

"Jesca," She whispered, dropping the trees she had been holding.

"Huh?" Mabel asked, not daring to believe what she had just heard.

"Jesca," She said again, louder this time, loud enough for Alex to hear. Immediately, he was at his sister's side.

"Her name was Jesca," She said slowly. "And..." She looked at her brother with wide eyes. "You knew Jesca."

"Mabel-"

Mabel had informed Ford of Alex and Jess's story, and, knowing that he was as surprised as she was, left her chair and went to sit with her great uncle. After all that time in this strange new world, what made Jess remember her past? Was she remembering at all?

"You loved her." Jess said, keeping eye contact with Alex, who had tears in his eyes.

"I did." He answered. "Do you remember anything else? Anything at all?" He sounded desperate.

There were tears streaming down Jess's face when she shook her head. "I don't. I can't remember. I just remember that you loved Jescsa. Like she was your best friend."

Alex nodded and pulled his sister into an embrace, quietly bawling into her shoulder.

Mabel sighed. For a moment, there was a tiny spark of hope, the hope that maybe   
Jess would remember that she was Alex's sister and best friend. Maybe she really was too far gone. She simply didn't remember living any kind of life before that portal took her away.

Ford covered his niece's hand with his own. He needed to find a way out of this. The fact reiterated itself as Mabel realized it; that there was no hope for ordinary people in a place like this. Happy endings just weren't a possibility as long as they were in the sub-dimensions's walls. Hope was at home. Home was light years away.

That was when the ground started shaking.

"Oh, God..." Alex said, raising his head. "God, no..."

"I've got the door. Get everyone somewhere safe," Jess said, pulling herself out of her brother's arms. In an instant, her mood had changed completely, as if the last five minutes hadn't taken place at all.

"Come on, you two," Alex said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "Dimension-quake. Like I was telling you about," He explained. "Just get to the back."

The ground wasn't just shaking now, the very structure of the house seemed to be falling apart.

Ford grabbed Mabel's hand- but what if she tripped on her way to the back? What if she was lost in the crowd? A thousand scenarios where Mabel wasn't in the safest position possible flew through the Ford's brilliant (and frankly, imaginative) mind. Deciding not to take any chances, he scooped his niece into his arms and carried her back. After all, he could trust himself, couldn't he?

Then Jess screamed.

Every inhabitant of the refuge turned. Twelve hearts skipped beats when they saw that the door was wide open.

"Jesca!" Alex yelled, running towards the door, trying to pull it shut again. "Oh, God, no-"

Mabel could have sworn that she saw figures approaching rapidly. How were they not being blown off of their feet by the howling winds?

Then there were more than twelve people in that room. There were screams, too many to count and too loud to really hear.

Ford felt Mabel leave his arms.

"No!" He cried, reaching desperately, only grabbing the freezing wind.

The realization that he had let someone take his treasure away was the last thing his brain absorbed before darkness fell.

OoO

Dipper woke before the sun. His back ached, his neck ached, and every part of him was still tired. But how could he sleep when he knew that his sister and Ford were light years away, in one of the most dangerous places in the multiverse?

What if the sub-dimension was too dangerous? What if- no, he couldn't think that way. He wouldn't let himself think that way.

With a sigh, Dipper put his hat on his head and went downstairs. Maybe he could do more research in the basement, that was where all of their work was, anyway. He punched the code into the vending machine, 89467, and went down to the lab.

What he found in the basement was a complete surprise.

His great-uncle Stan was sitting at the desk, hunched over Ford's third journal. A half-finished cup of cold coffee sat before a framed picture of Dipper and his sister. Dipper almost smiled when he looked at it.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Stan asked, not looking up from the journal.

"How did you-"

"You're not as quiet as you think you are, kiddo." He sighed. "I don't blame you, and we may as well keep each other company."

Dipper nodded and sat on the chair beside Stan's. "Any breakthroughs?" 

"Not yet." Stan answered despondently.

"Shoot." Dipper sighed. "I was...hoping."

"So am I." 

There was silence in the basement. Dipper turned back to the picture again. It was taken on one of the few days when nothing weird happened. They were sitting together on the couch; Dipper had one of the journals open on his lap, Mabel was working on one of her scrapbooks.

"Is this from when you were using the lab?" Dipper asked, picking it up to look more closely, like he could bring that moment back if he were close enough to it.

"Nah, all my pictures of you two are upstairs. That's Ford's." Stan said, pushing the journal aside to look at the photo.

That made Dipper stop to think. Ford had a picture of them in his lab? That seemed very human, very normal of him.

"I wouldn't have thought..." Dipper murmured.

"It surprised me, too, the first time I saw it." Stan agreed. "But he loves you two, so it makes sense."

Dipper sighed. Tears were burning in his eyes.

"Grunkle Stan," he finally said. "Do you think Ford and Mabel are both...you know..." He braced himself. "alive?"

There was a pause.

"You know, I've wondered about that, too." Stan sighed. 

"And what if something happens to Ford and Mabel's all alone, and she's just waiting on us to help her and-"

"We can't think like that, kiddo." Stan said. "We need to trust that they're together and taking care of each other. We both know that Ford would do anything to keep Mabel safe."

Dipper nodded. "And she'd do the same for him."

"Of course she would. They're out there, fighting their way back to us. So we've got to fight to get them back."

Dipper nodded his head and sat the picture back down.

I won't let you down. He said, looking at his sister. I won't let you down.

OoO

When Mabel woke, there was white and red. White marble walls and red carpets and tapestries hanging from the high ceilings. Tall, thin windows showed the grey sky. It wasn't storming any longer, the ground was still.

In the center of the room, there was a table with two chairs at each of its ends. One of these chairs was already occupied.

"Come sit, my sweet." The occupant said. Mabel looked around the room, where was Ford? Why was she alone with a complete stranger?

Deciding that she really had no other choice, Mabel sat at the other end of the table.

At the other end, there was a woman, but she was unlike any other woman Mabel had ever seen. She was tall, she must have towered at least three feet above the table, and lithe. She had magnolia-white skin and sky-high cheekbones that were sharper than knives. Long, ebony hair rippled down her back. Her eyes...

Her eyes were always changing, it wasn't just the color, but the shape. Every second, her eyes changed, sometimes subtlety, sometimes drastically. She was staring at Mabel with narrow eyes the color of lavender.

"Mabel Pines, isn't it?" She said, her voice was wise and arrogant, almost like Ford's, but obviously more feminine. And she sounded older, though she looked much younger than Ford was...

"Mabel?" She repeated, pulling Mabel out of her thoughts.

"Yes, ma'am." She said. That one answer gave her enough confidence to ask the question that had been burning in the back of her head. "Where is my- well, he's my great uncle, his name's Stanford-"

She raised a hand calmly, silencing Mabel immediately. "Don't fret. I want to talk to you before anything else."

Mabel nodded her head.

"Mabel, my sweet," There was a jewel hanging on a chain around her neck.

The missing piece...

"...I've been watching you, you know. Since your arrival."

"Are you the dimension's ruler?" Mabel asked, forgetting about her agreement to listen.

Nevertheless, she nodded. "Some call me a goddess. Some call me a tyrant. You may call me Helena. That was what my parents did, anyway."

Mabel nodded again.

"My sweet, I'm...I'm not a young goddess any longer. I was at the beginning, all those centuries ago. I was given this dimension as a plaything, hence the ever-changing environments. It was for my entertainment.

"Yet I was ruling alone. But it wasn't always like that. There was a time when I had an ally, not that I need one now, but...it's a matter of sentiment, you see. I'm saying goodbye to a few very important things in my old age. There's one thing I haven't gotten to say farewell to before I return home, home being my parents' dimension, where I suppose I will rule in their place."

Mabel looked at the crystal around Helena's neck. Maybe she was imagining it, but it certainly seemed less bright than it was before.

"What will happen to everyone in this dimension when you leave?"

Helena furrowed her brow. "I suppose...nothingness. They will join the void."

Mabel thought of Alex and Jess and Eve, of nothingness.

"Who was your ally?"

Helena smiled sadly, ruefully. "My best friend and brother. I remember him quite well despite all of our years apart. He left just shortly after I was given this dimension...I've been looking for him all this time...a day ago, I thought I had finally found him. That's when I found you. You know where Edwin is. His presence, some spell that he has cast, perhaps, prohibits me from going where he is. I need you to bring him to me." 

"I don't know who-"

In a split second, Helena was beside her, her hand on her shoulder. Her eyes bore into Mabel's. A haze of color flew past, first blue, then hazel, lavender again, green-

And then brown. An impossibly dark brown that almost blended into the pupils. Mabel knew those eyes. The color left as quickly as it came.

"You know what to do?"

Mabel nodded her head.

"And in return, I will grant you a safe journey back to your dimension. With your great uncle, of course."

A change to go home...

Mabel nodded again.

"Lovely. I suppose you'll want to talk to Stanford, now? He woke a few hours ago."

oOo

Ford sat with his head in his hands. Initially, he wasn't sure what to make of his surroundings. They weren't under furnished in the slightest, there were chairs and a sofa and a bookcase...

Then he had spoken with his captor, with the ruler of the sub-dimension and his situation became overwhelmingly clear. He was in a prison.

And Mabel was gone. She had refused to tell him of his niece's whereabouts, so he was left to wonder.

She had been right there, in his arms, in the safest place possible, and now she was gone...

"Grunkle Ford?"

Ford raised his head, not daring to hope. Surely enough, there Mabel was.

"Mabel," he said, holding out his arms. Ford, as he knelt, felt his knees hit something immovable-

Mabel stopped and pressed one of her hands against the barrier. Surely enough, there was an invisible, unforgiving barrier between them.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Mabel nodded her head. "I came back here to tell you...Helena kind of...kind of gave me a mission." 

Ford remembered the goddess telling him that she had a job for his niece, that he would get to hold her again once she had completed it...

"You didn't accept it, did you?" 

Mabel nodded her head. "She said we'd get to go home. And I know what to do."

"Mabel," Ford sighed. "My dearest, you know you don't have to-"

"I kinda do, though." She said. "But it's okay," she went on, almost smiling. "I know what to do. All goes to plan, I'll be back before tomorrow."

Ford, defeated, rested his forehead against the barrier. Despite everything, despite his promises to keep his niece safe, the universe managed to find a way to send her away alone. Without his protection, anything could happen to her.

"I'll be safe." She said, kissing the part of the barrier where his forehead rested. "I'll be totally safe."

And she was. Helena's guards were still at the refuge's door when a few of her advisors escorted her there. Mabel calmly walked past them. She walked past Alex and Jess and Eve on her way to Edwin, who was sitting in his customary spot.

For the first time, two pairs of brown eyes met.

"Will you come back with me?" Mabel asked him. Edwin nodded his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO. Friends and neighbors, my Spring Break is reaching a close and it's almost 2 AM. Sorry I took so long to post again. Please leave comments and thank you for all of your kind words. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! Thanks for reading! Leave comments!


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